It is well known to provide a litter box as a commode for a pet. A standard litter box provides a sanitary solution to pet waste. Most commonly, the standard litter box is an open top box constructed of hard plastic to provide resiliency and permanency. Litter material, typically in the form of clay pellets, is then placed within the standard litter box to absorb the moisture and odor related to pet waste.
Unfortunately, the standard litter box is not particularly accommodating to transient requirements. Temporary problems might arise when one is vacationing or traveling. However, the hardness and resiliency of the standard litter box make transport more difficult than necessary. Furthermore, should a temporary solution be desired, disposal of the standard litter box would be wasteful. Rather than packing-up the standard litter box, it would instead be better to provide a disposable litter box.
Ideally, the disposable litter box should be inexpensively manufactured and the required assembly should be minimal and simple. Also, the disposable litter box should be sufficiently strong to withstand packing, shipping and stacking. Furthermore, the structure of the disposable litter box must be resistant to repeated moisture exposure.
A review of the prior art reveals inventions related to disposable litter boxes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,649 issued to Taft ("Taft") discloses a disposable pet litter box having an accordion like structure made from cardboard. The Taft structure is particularly easy to assemble in that all that is required is to lift off a top portion of a box, and pull vertically on an accordion structure to erect the litter box.
Other examples of disposable pet litter boxes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,205 issued to Schiller et al. ("Schiller"), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,834 issued to Queen et al. ("Queen"). The Schiller and Queen patents are more utilitarian in design. Both of these patents disclose collapsible and disposable enclosures for pet litter. In these designs the emphasis is on simplicity. The Schiller design is a box comprised of scored foldable panels that are manipulated to form the housing structure. The Queen design features a minimum of rigid panels and a peel-back cover to access the charge of cat litter. Nonetheless, these designs are somewhat complex to assemble. Thus, there is a present and continuing need for development and improvement in the field of disposable litter boxes.